


I Need a Hero

by Phoenix_Fire_22



Category: Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Darcy gets abducted, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Physical Abuse, ShieldShock - Freeform, Slow Romance, hostage, some violence, worried steve
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2014-08-10
Packaged: 2018-02-08 03:22:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1924824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_Fire_22/pseuds/Phoenix_Fire_22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy and Clint are attacked on the way to do Tony a favor. Darcy gets taken and the Avengers are left wondering who took her and how they're going to get her back.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“ _Miss Lewis?_ ”  
  
Darcy groaned, rolling over in her bed while throwing the pillow over her head. It was Saturday morning and after being Tony’s slave for the past week, all she wanted to do was sleep in.   
She was Jane’s assistant officially but since Jane was overseas with Erik working on their science things, she was left at Stark tower with the Avengers. She was originally planning on having a vacation while Jane and Erik were away but when Pepper came to her and asked her to help out Tony when he needed it, she couldn’t very well turn them down. They were letting her live in the Stark tower for free and who could say no to Pepper? There was also the fact that Pepper was in back-to-back meetings between New York and California all weekend.   
  
It actually wasn’t the worst thing she’s ever had to do, besides the fact that she had to put up with Tony’s holier than thou attitude. She mostly assisted him and Bruce in the lab, or helped Tony with his suits with what little help she could provide what with her being a political science major and all. What did she know about building Iron Man suits of all things?  
  
It was when he ordered her to bring him food and do other menial tasks that he was capable of doing himself that she wanted to strangle him. How did Pepper deal with this all the time? Though the fact that Pepper loved him could have something to do with it. Also, the fact that Darcy was promised a good amount of pay for her efforts was promising.  
  
So when Friday ended, she had her heart set on going to bed and sleeping in until at least noon. Laziness be damned. And now the fact the JARVIS was interrupting her sound sleep made her curse Tony because there’s no one else that would dare bother her on what was supposed to be her day off.  
  
“ _Miss Lewis, Mr. Stark requests your presence in his lab_.” JARVIS’ computerized voice filled the room once more. Her pillow barricade doing nothing to block out the sound. With an over dramatized sigh, she threw the pillow to the side of the bed and stared at the ceiling.  
  
“Of course he does. Such an asshole.” She rolled her eyes, “Is my presence requested right this second?” She asked.  
  
“ _It is to be assumed, Miss Lewis. He has inquired several times of your whereabouts_.”   
  
“Yeah, well tell him he’s going to have to wait until after my shower.” She replied as she got out of her bed padding towards the adjoining bathroom.  
  
“ _Will do, Miss Lewis_.”  
  
She didn’t intend to sound so whiny, not that the AI was really capable of judgment, but she was not a morning person. Especially after she spent most the night acquainting Thor to the wonders of 90’s gaming systems and racing kart games. When he compared Rainbow Road to the bridge in Asgard, she was immediately interested and mentally cursed Jane for being able to see it for herself, despite the circumstances of course.   
  
Thirty-five minutes later she was dressed in a pair of jeans, flat-heeled black boots, and her favorite navy blue sweater. After putting on the last few touches of her makeup for the day, she left her suite. She would have been quicker, but she decided to spite Tony for waking her up so early. Plus, if he wanted her so badly he could have gotten her himself.

\--  
  
“What do you want, Stark?” She said as she made her way into his lab.  
  
“Ouch, Lewis. Is that any way to speak to your boss?” Tony put his hand over his heart in mock pain.  
  
“You’re not my boss. Pepper is my boss. I’m just playing assistant to you for the time being. Now what can I do for you, your majesty…and, what are you doing?” Tony was sitting at one of his tables, metal and wires strewn about and his fingers were covered in what looked to be gold paint.  
  
“Oh, this?” He held up his hands, “Well I was trying to make my suit look nice and shiny again, but Dum-E decided to malfunction and now I have to do it manually. Shame.”   
  
“Is that why you woke me up at 7am on a Saturday morning?” She quirked an eyebrow making her way over to the table to examine Tony’s ‘handy work’.  
  
“No. Wait, are you volunteering?” She shook her head, holding her hands up, “Fine, be that way. I need my car picked up from my mechanic. Usually he’d have it brought over considering all the money I pay the man, but he’s unable to do so for some ungodly reason.” Darcy’s eyes lit up.  
  
“You’re going to let me drive your car?” She asked excitedly. Tony wiped his hands off on a rag and stood up, pointing a finger at her.  
  
“Not if you get all creepy about it, Lewis. That car is my baby, well, besides my suits…and Pepper, obviously besides Pepper.”   
  
“Right. Yeah, of course. I’m totally cool.” She tried to play it off casually, but she couldn’t keep the grin off her face. Tony rolled his eyes at her.  
  
After writing down the address and telling her what time it needed to be picked up, Tony gave her what he hoped to be an intimidating lecture on making sure not one scratch got on his car. Judging by the child-like glee she had on her face, he just hoped she heard at least half of what he was saying.  
  
Darcy assured him it would be in good hands and that he could trust her. She also apologized for cursing him off earlier to which he tried to guilt her with a hurt and offended glare. It was too bad, however, that besides Pepper, she was able to see right through him as she brushed it off. It helped that she was basically on his level of sass.   
  
After leaving Tony’s lab, she practically skipped towards the kitchen area to get her morning coffee when she rounded the doorway and ran right into Steve Rogers. She lost her balance as a huff of air escaped her lungs.   
  
“Woah there, sorry Steve!” She said as he grabbed her arms to keep her from falling backwards. Steve gave her a confused glance, releasing her arms and taking a small step backwards.  
  
“Who are you? The Darcy I know is never this enthusiastic before she’s had her coffee.” He teased as Darcy laughed and playfully hit his arm as she passed him and headed into the kitchen.  
  
“Well I wasn’t, but then Tony told me he needed me to go pick up his car, which means that I get to drive said car.” She clapped her hands together excitedly as Steve smirked at her joyfulness.  
  
“Lady Darcy, Please be mindful on the streets. I have seen many accidents in my time here in this city. I would not like for you to be in one of them.” Thor offered concerned as he walked over from the adjoining living room. Darcy held up a hand as she went to pour herself her coffee.  
  
“Trust me, Thor. There is no way I’d put a car as nice as Tony’s in any kind of harm.”   
  
“And yourself.” Steve added.  
  
“And myself, what?” Darcy questioned.  
  
“You said you wouldn’t put Tony’s car in harms way. I hope that applies to your well-being as well?” He pressed.  
  
“Oh, yeah” She waved her free hand as she took a sip of her heated caffeine, “Of course, but that car… come on, Rogers.” She joked. He shook his head, smiling at her quirky demeanor over a car. Though he had to admit, it was a nice car.  
  
“Steve, my friend. Would you like to go down to the room of training and, what do you call it? ‘Spar’ with me?” Thor said as he walked up to Steve and clapped him on the back. Darcy choked back a laugh at the look of surprise on Steve’s face clearly not have expecting Thor’s booming voice to be so close. “Yeah, sure thing Thor.”  
  
Darcy watched as the two left the room, the smile on her face uncontrollable at the thought of those two very well-built men doing any kind of workouts. She almost felt bad because Thor belonged to Jane, of course, but who wouldn’t mind seeing the man working out. And then there was Steve. Steve Rogers was certainly a sight for sore eyes. She could look at him all day. His amazing blue eyes and the smile that could melt her into a puddle certainly didn’t help either.

\--

  
After finishing her coffee and a last minute bowl of cereal, she headed towards her suite to grab her bag and shoved her taser in her boot. New York City was a definite change from New Mexico and she always liked to be prepared incase she got mugged- even if someone managed to grab her purse, she’d have her taser on hand… or leg. She was just headed out of the elevator- reserved for the Avengers, herself, Jane, and of course Pepper obviously- when she almost ran into Clint. Two Avengers she’d have taken out in less than an hour.  
  
“Darcy.” Clint said in greeting, “What are you doing awake so early?” Darcy scoffed.  
  
“What’s with you people thinking it’s such a shock that I’m awake right now?” Clint raised an eyebrow. “Okay, fine. I’m only awake because Tony sucks. Well, he did suck for waking me up so early but then he said he wanted me to go pick up his car, so he doesn’t suck as much anymore. Which speaking of, I have to get going.” She made to walk around him when he stopped her.  
  
“Woah back up there, Lewis. Stark is letting _you_ pick up and _drive_ his car?” He asked in disbelief.   
  
“Right? That’s what I was thinking! But who’s complaining. Now if you’ll excuse me-”  
  
“Not so fast, Lewis. I’m coming with you. Just don’t tell, Stark.” Clint said as he followed her as she made her way out of the building.  
  
“What’s in it for me?” She asked.  
  
“I won’t put an arrow in you.” Darcy gaped, a horrified look immediately replacing her teasing manner. “I’m joking, relax. As if I’d ever shoot you. Stark, maybe.” He paused, “Stark, most definitely.” He corrected. Darcy laughed as she pushed through the glass double-doors.  
  
“Alright, alright, but I’m driving and nothing you do or say is going to change that or I’ll taser you so bad you’ll be drooling on yourself for days.”   
  
“Yes, ma’am” He mock saluted. Darcy liked Clint Barton, though she didn’t see much of him. He was usually off doing assassin-things or with Natasha. In the beginning she didn’t interact with him much since he seemed to either be pissed off or brooding. Eventually he started either teasing her or making sarcastic remarks to her whenever she spoke. She wasn’t a stranger to sarcasm, but she initially thought he was just being an ass. That is, until one time he said something on his way out and Darcy was about to go after him and tase him until Nat told her that’s just how he is with friends. She’d be lying if she said wasn’t completely flattered, but she made sure not to let him know that.  
  
“Where is this place anyway?” Clint asked after about five minutes of walking. Darcy pulled out the folded up paper with the address on it from her pocket.  
  
“Tony’s Auto Shop” Darcy cringed. “Of course he’d have a mechanic with the same name as him. How pretentious.” She rolled her eyes. “It’s just a few blocks away.”  
  
“That’s Stark for you.” Clint replied as they rounded the corner onto a side street. “So how’s it been being at his beck and call all week?”   
  
“It’s not as bad as I thought it’d be, actually. He’s more aware of his surroundings when working than Jane is, so that’s a plus. Though I don’t know how Pepper puts up with him all the time.”  
  
“Well that’s because-”  
  
“Stop!” She interrupted him. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence. I don’t want to hear about their sex.” Clint laughed held his hands up in surrender.   
  
“Oh come on, you know…” Clint trailed off when the sound of tires squealing echoed around the small street. Without thought, he grabbed Darcy’s arm and pulled her to his other side away from the street as they continued to walk. She didn’t question it but she could tell he was on alert. She figured it was nothing to worry about and that he was just used to being prepared for worst case scenarios.  
  
She was about to voice her thoughts when a black van stopped short beside them. The back door slid open with a bang.   
  
“Run!” Clint yelled to Darcy, his eyes not leaving the three men that jumped from the vehicle. Darcy, however, was frozen in her spot. Sure, she had been taught what to do in situations like this when she joined in on the Avengers even just as an assistant, but being in the situation for real made her lose all knowledge of that.  
  
She watched as Clint tried to fight off the small group of masked men, completely unaware of a fourth exiting the vehicle advancing towards Darcy. She herself hadn’t noticed until it was too late. Before she knew it, before she had a chance to run or fight back, the man had her in a vice grip as he dragged her towards the van. She screamed and tried to kick at the man as her arms were being held down by his.  
  
“Clint! Clint, help!” She yelled as her feet dragged against the ground. Clint’s eyes widened as he saw her being thrown into the vehicle. She held onto the opening of the door as she was being held back. A hand went over her mouth to muffle her cries for help. Two of the three men immediately retreated once Darcy was obtained. Just as Clint was about to knock the last one out, he took out a syringe and plunged it into Clint’s neck. With one last burst of effort, he snapped the mans arm breaking the bone with a sickening crack. He hit the ground leaning against a parked car as the man’s pained cry filled the air.  
  
“Come on, we’ve got to go! Leave him here.” He heard one of them yell as they pulled the guy into the van. The last thing he heard before the door slammed shut was Darcy’s panicked cry of his name before the smell of rubber filled the air and the van was gone.  
  
Whatever they injected him with had gone into effect almost immediately. Had he not been trained for things like this, he would have been out as soon as he was injected. Fortunately he had become immune to sedatives. Unfortunately, however, this didn’t seem to be a typical sedative.  
  
As he fought to stay conscious from his position slumped against the parked car, he put all his energy into pulling out his cell phone and pressing the speed dial for Nat. He hadn’t been able to hold the phone up to his ear for long before his arm gave up and slumped in his lap. Thankfully he was able to hear as Nat picked up the phone.  
  
“ _Yes, Barton?_ ” Her faint voice came through the small device. He tried to respond, but his mouth felt like it was filled with cotton, his breaths barely audible to himself. “ _Clint. Answer me._ ” Nat continued worriedly at his lack of response.  
  
He tapped out the Morse code for S-O-S through the buttons, listening to the beeps in a staccato rhythm. He was almost at the last beep when the phone slipped from his hands. The silence came first, a low hum in his ears, and then there was nothing but darkness. 

* * *

  
  
He came to, to an incessant tapping noise against metal. Slowly opening his eyes, Clint tried adjusting to the blurriness until he could make out Tony tapping a pen against the metal table to his left as he leaned back in a chair, his feet propped up on the bed Clint was laying in. He looked up at the ceiling and groaned as the lights assaulted his eyes.  
  
“Clint?” He heard Nat from his side. He was about to turn his head to her when Tony’s face filled his vision.  
  
“Rise and shine, Legolas.” He strained to remember what happened through the immense headache he was feeling. He looked around the room, surprised to see that Thor, Bruce, and Steve were there as well. He was about to question it when he noticed the lack of another member of the household. With a start, he flung him self into an upright position and off of the bed he was lying on.   
  
“Clint, you must lie down.” Thor said from behind him. He ignored him and he started towards the door only for his arm to be pulled backwards. Looking down, he ripped the IV from his arm and continued forward. They had Darcy and he needed to go get her back. They needed to get her back.  
  
He hadn’t made it two feet before Steve’s hands were on his shoulders pushing him back and onto the bed. He tried to push against Steve but he found himself still sluggish from whatever he had been injected with.  
  
“Clint, man, calm down.” Steve said as he tried to stand up again.  
  
“No!” He shouted, his voice hoarse. “They took her! We have to go.” He stood from the bed only because everyone else was momentarily stunned at his words.  
  
“Took who? What are you talking about?” Nat asked as she stood at his side. He looked at them like they were crazy.  
  
“Darcy! They took Darcy.” Clint explained exasperatedly. The only sound in the room was Clint’s breathing, everyone else at a loss for words until Steve spoke up breaking the silence.  
  
“Barton, What do you mean ‘they took Darcy’? _Who_ took Darcy?” Steve asked deadly calm though fear coursed through him at the thought of Darcy being taken.   
  
“I think you better explain what’s going on, Barton.” Tony said. “And quickly.” He added. Clint glanced around at everyone and seeing that he wasn’t getting out of this room until he explained he clenched his fists. Though he knew it made more sense for everyone to know, but the drug in his system wasn’t letting him think clearly.  
  
“I went with Darcy to pick up Stark’s car. We were talking and then a van came flying around the corner. It stopped and three guys got out. I tried to fight them off. Told her to run. But then a fourth guy came and dragged her into the van.” He stopped glancing at Steve before looking away, “I tried. God, I tried, I swear but they had the upper hand and then they injected me with something. I got in a few punches and broke one of the guys’ arms but it was too late. They took Darcy and then they were gone.”  
  
“Are you not a trained assassin?!” Thor bellowed as he stalked towards Clint, but Bruce stepped in his way trying to keep him back.  
  
“Thor.” Nat said warningly.  
  
“No! You have not described anything that makes these men out differently than any other man on the street. Yet, you, a trained assassin, one of the best at his trade, has managed to let Darcy get taken! She is in danger!” Thor yelled as Steve stepped in to intercept his path towards Clint.  
  
“Thor, Stop!” Steve yelled.  
  
“You think I wanted her to get taken?!” Clint stood up ready to go up against Thor if he needed to.  
  
“Shut up! All of you!” Nat yelled. “We need to figure out who has her and where they’ve taken her so you all need to calm the hell down!” Thor and Clint receded from their glaring match induced from anger and guilt and once it was clear they were calm, Steve backed away from the two running a hand through his hair. His panic increasing. He knew Darcy could defend herself, but he didn’t know how well. The fact that they had no idea who had taken her or why did nothing to quell his worry.  
  
“Who the hell would take Lewis?” Tony spoke up through the silence.  
  
“We’re going to find out. And we’re not stopping until we do.” Steve ordered, though no one would have argued, and with that he walked out of the room intent on hunting down whoever had Darcy Lewis.


	2. Chapter 2

She regains consciousness, just barely, as she’s being dragged through a dimly lit hallway. Rough hands are wrapped around both of her upper arms as her feet drag against the hard floor. If she remembered how to talk, she would be giving them hell for scuffing up her boots.   
  
It takes her a moment to remember what happened until the memories hit her. When Clint hit the ground she was engulfed in fear for her friends safety. She knew he had been able to handle sedatives, that he was able to fight them off before they could do anything. So when he went down she knew it was something stronger, and she hoped with everything in her that he was still alive.   
  
Before her vision could even gain its normal functionality, she was being forced down into a chair in a room she hadn’t realized they had entered. The chair was metal and hard with arms that looked like they had seen better days as they were covered in rust. The two men that had dragged her in forcefully tied her hands to the arm of the chair with thick rope as well as her torso to the back of the chair. They made sure not to be generous with the tightness of their knots. She tried pulling her hands away as her head swam. She tried to get a good look at them to see if they looked familiar. They were both fairly tall, and quite built, though not nearly as built as Thor or Steve. One had shaggy brown hair whereas the other had cropped blonde hair and looked to be much younger than the first. She however had no idea who these guys were- certain she had never seen them before.  
  
“What are you doing? Let me go!” She yelled out as she struggled against them. She was met with silence and then the two men straightened up and started towards the door. “Hey! Stop! Where the hell are you going? What do you want with me?!” The only response they gave was the slamming of the door as they left her alone in the room. She looked around as much as she could but there was nothing to see. The room was dimly lit with a single bulb hanging from the ceiling. The floor, much like in the hallway was concrete and there were no windows in the room. The only other thing in the room was a small desk and a chair in the corner of the room. Tears stung her eyes as she racked her brain trying to think of who could have taken her and why. Her mind came up blank. She was just an assistant to a scientist, yeah she guessed that could be part of the reason but Jane hadn’t worked on anything major since the whole thing with Thor in London. Her next thought was that she knew the Avengers, but so did a whole slew of SHIELD agents, plus what did she know- they didn’t tell her anything about their missions.  
  
The door opening pulled her from her thoughts as the two guys from earlier entered again, though this time they were accompanied by two more men. The first two leaned against the wall while one of the newer men stood by the door. Darcy assumed the final man to be in charge, or at least more in charge than these other guys. He had dark hair and an average build and she guessed him to be about six-feet tall. Aside from his prominent jaw line and striking- yet menacing- green eyes, nothing stood out as much as the scars on his left side that covered from his hairline down to his neck and the burn-scar on his left arm.  
  
“Who are you?” Darcy demanded, trying to hold back the quiver in her voice. The man came to stand in front of her and in passing thought, she wondered why none of these guys were wearing masks. She almost thought nothing of it until she remembered in any situation like this on a show or movie, when they weren’t wearing masks, it usually meant they were going to kill them. Her breath quickened at the thought and her heart raced in fear of what they were going to do to her.  
  
“Seriously, man, what the fuck do you want from me? What did you do to Clint?” She said struggling once again against the ropes on her arms. He grabbed the chair that had been by the desk and set it in front of her, sitting down. “Would you answer me?! What do you want with me?!”  
  
“Now, now Ms. Potts. If you calm down this will be a whole lot easier for you.” He said calmly but confusion filled Darcy at his words. She glanced around the room confused until her eyes fell back on the one in front of her thinking maybe she had misheard. “Remember when the _Avengers_ ,” She winced at the malice as he nearly spat out the word, “destroyed the city?”  
  
“They didn’t-” She tried to correct him. They saved the city. Sure there was destruction but that was those alien creeps. How could he possibly think otherwise?   
  
“ _They_ are the reason my family is dead!” He stood up and she flinched as he threw the chair back into the wall. The bang echoing through the small room. “My family was murdered by Tony Stark. That monster threw one of those things into a light post. The same light post that sent another car barreling into mine.” He grounded out through clenched teeth. “My wife and my daughter are _dead_ because of him. Now what better way to make him pay by taking his precious girlfriend in return.” He seethed.  
  
“Woah, okay buddy, hold up there for a second.” She inwardly tried shutting herself up. This was not the time for her to be back-talking anyone, especially the people who are holding her captive, but she couldn’t stop herself. “I’m sorry about your family, okay? But Tony and the others are not to blame for any of what happened then. That was Loki and those freaky aliens! And secondly, I am not Tony’s girlfriend. You so have the wrong person.” She glared at him. “As if you’d ever be able to get your hands on Pepper anyway, you fucking moron.” She added more to herself than anything.  
  
Apparently she should have quit while she was ahead, because suddenly her head was being knocked backwards as the mans fist met with her jaw with a sickening smack of knuckle on bone. She cried out as the pain hit her full.  
  
“Not very bright, are you?” He smirked in pride at her pain and she wanted to vomit at the look in his eyes. “What a surprise. A girl in fear lying to try and protect herself.”  
  
“I’m not lying! My name is Darcy! How have you and your goons not realized I look nothing like Pepper?!” She watched as the man glared at her before looking over at the other men in the room. At their uncertain shrugs he ordered them to bring him her bag that she had when they had taken her. When they retrieved it he grabbed it and dumped the contents on the table in the room fishing through until he found her wallet. Tearing it open he took out her license before looking at her.  
  
“God damn it!” He exclaimed flipping the table over on its side and he yelled in frustration. “You guys had one job and you fuck it up?!”  
  
“She was with Hawkeye, sir. We just assumed-” The man with the cropped-blonde hair tried to explain.  
  
“Shut the hell up, Rick!” He turned back to Darcy gripping her arms so tight the chair was balancing only on the back legs and the only reason she hadn’t fallen backwards was because of the vice grip he had on her upper arms. “You’re going to tell me who the hell you are and what you do for the Avengers. And don’t even think about telling me you’re a nobody, because a ‘nobody’ wouldn’t be leaving Stark’s building with Hawkeye.” Darcy swallowed back her fear and she tore her eyes away from his. If she wasn’t scared before, she most certainly was now.  
  
“I’m- I’m just an assistant to one of the scientists that works in the building.” She stuttered out as she squeezed her eyes shut.  
  
“An assistant? What else? How well do you know Tony Stark?” He was so close she could feel his spit on her face. She’d be grossed out if she wasn’t so terrified.  
  
“I don’t. I barely ever see him. I just work in the building, that’s it.” She lied trying her best to make it sound believable. As much as she wanted to be anywhere else right now, she was glad it was her in this situation rather than Pepper. Pepper was too good of a person to be in the hands of these kinds of people. Not that she thought that she wasn’t, but clearly this man had it out for Tony. She wasn’t sure they’d even let Pepper live. She hoped she got to at least.  
  
When he pulled back, she tried to hold back her sigh of relief as all four chair legs were back on the floor. Though she should have known it was short lived as one of the mans henchmen called him over. Turning her head towards the man she could just make out her cell phone in his hand through her peripheral. She held her breath in anticipation at what exactly he had found.   
  
“So you don’t know Tony Stark at all, huh?” She swallowed nervously as he grabbed the phone from the other man and examined the screen. He walked back over to her holding up her phone to her face. She cringed as she saw _Stark_ accompanied by the picture she took of him smiling into the phone one of the days they were working in his lab when she first moved into the tower. Nat saw it once and told her she shouldn’t have any of them in her phone with their names or pictures in case, but she brushed it off. She really owed Nat an apology for not listening to her.  
  
The man reared his hand back and back-handed her across the face. She held back her cry of pain this time, instead biting her lip trying to ignore the stinging pain across her right eye.  
  
“I would think, _Miss Lewis_ , that you would be smart enough not to lie to me. I’m going to ask you one more time, how well do you know Stark? Do you work for him?” He scowled at her. She hesitated, looking away trying to figure out whether she should tell him or not. Her hesitation, however, only made things worse as he wrapped his hand around her throat with enough force to send the chair backwards, landing against the floor with a heavy thud. She gasped as she tried to pull in air but his hand only tightened around her throat. “Tell me!” He roared.  
  
“I-” She struggled to get the words out, “I wo… work for h-him.” He released the hold he had on her and forcefully pulled the chair back into an upright position. Her breaths came out at a rapid pace, her lungs burning as they filled with air. “I’m his assistant, too.” She forced out, barely a whisper. Her eyes filled with tears as she watched a menacing smirk appear on his face.   
  
“His assistant? Wonder how much he’d pay to keep you alive.” He sneered as her heart stopped.  
  
“You want money? Tony’s not going to give you any money, are you crazy?” While she hoped with everything in her that Tony would spare even a little to keep her alive, she also didn’t want to give these guys any advantage.   
  
“Let’s see about that, shall we?” With that he headed out of the room signaling for the other men to follow. As the door slammed shut she flinched at the sound before a sob tore through her. She tried to hold it back but instead it turned into a shuddering sob as tears streamed down her face. It wasn’t until her face started stinging again that she realized her face was most likely cut up from the guys right hook and back-hand.  
  
“Pull yourself together, Darcy.” She whispered to herself. She spent the next few minutes trying to figure out a way of to get out of this damn place and back to her room in Tony’s tower. She would wait on Tony hand and foot and never complain again if she could just _get out of here_.   
  
She sighed and stared up at the ceiling until she snapped out of it and started pulling at the ropes around her wrists.   
  
“Come on!” She grounded out as she tried pulling up and down in a sad attempt to loosen the knots. When that didn’t work she tried pulling her hands towards her and out from under the rope. It was too tight and the rough material of the rope scraped against her skin, pulling at it and tearing small cuts into her wrists as she tried to pull free. “No, no, _no!_ ” She yelled in frustration as she hung her head.   
  
With a start, she remembered she still had her taser in her boot. The same taser Tony had placed a GPS inside that would track her when it was used.   
 Her excitement faded just as quickly as it came. Without the use of her hands there was no way to get it out or even use it. She could try and push it out with her other foot but she didn’t want to risk it if they came back and saw it- there was no way for her to hide it. She decided to keep it hidden for now, until they untied her and she’d have a chance to use it. She just hoped that time would come soon.  
  
If any of the Avengers had been in this situation, they’d have already been gone. She definitely needed to have them train her if she got out of here. _When_ she got out of here. She couldn’t give up. She held on to any good thought she could think of, trying to keep herself sane alone in the cold room. She was going to drive Tony’s car no matter what and he’d be damned if he tried to stop her. She still needed to be able to teach Thor more games so she could kick his ass. For the first time in a while, she couldn’t wait to work on science with Jane, Erik, and Bruce. No matter how out there it could be, she’d give anything to be right there with her friends instead of tied up god knows where. And Steve, God _Steve_ … tears brimmed her eyes at the thought of never seeing him again. She’s had a stupid crush on him since she moved into the tower and over the months seeing him was the highlight of her days. Now she might never see him again.  
  
Footsteps coming closer her pulled her from her thoughts and she braced herself for what was to come. Not even a minute later the door slammed open once again and the head jackass and his cronies entered the room. Rick, the blonde man from earlier, seemed to be missing this time.  
  
Nothing was said as they entered, instead the room remained silent as the guy with the vendetta stood across from her fixing her with an intimidating glare. Not wanting to seem weak, she held his gaze trying her best to return what she opened was a stern glare.   
  
“I’ve got it, boss.” She looked away towards the door as Rick entered, carrying a laptop. She couldn’t hide her confusion as she looked back at the man in front of her.  
  
“It’s about time we filled Mr. Stark in on our little plan.” He said as Rick pulled the table in front of her placing the laptop on it and setting something up.  
  
“What _plan_?” She asked.  
  
“We’re using you as bait for the Avengers, Miss Lewis.” Her eyes widened.  
  
“ _Bait?_ You really think you’ll be able to take them down?” She asked incredulously, “They’ll track you down and kill you before you even finish your sentence!”   
  
“Ah, you would think. But Rick here is an IT genius. Our system is fully encrypted and the IP address will be changing with every second.” She quirked an eyebrow at him.  
  
“You really think _Tony Stark_ won’t be able to hack into your system?” The man frowned, his stare hard.  
  
“Do not underestimate me, kid.” He said lowly, “Forget any ideas of trying to tell them where you are.” He snapped his fingers and then a pair of hands were coming around from behind her. A piece of cloth was shoved in her mouth and tied tightly behind her head. Her eyes went wide as she tried struggling out of it muffling through the gag.  
  
“Shut up!” He pulled out a switchblade from his pocket, “Or this is going in your leg.” He warned. Darcy stilled, trying to calm her frantic breathing.   
  
She watched as Rick stood up from whatever he was doing on the computer and signaling to the guy with the knife in his hand. Looking at the screen she noticed it set up for video feed. In passing thought she questioned how he thought they couldn’t just run a facial recognition on him through the video feed. That was answered as Rick handed him a black ski mask he placed over his head.   
  
“Not a fucking sound.” He said to her before hitting a few keys on the laptop before standing in front of the laptop waiting for it to connect.   
  
She couldn’t see anything as he was blocking her view, but after a couple of minutes she heard a sound she never thought she’d be happier to hear.  
  
“ _Who the hell are you?_ ” Tony Stark’s voice came through the speakers filling the small room and Darcy almost sobbed at the sound.  
  
“Tony Stark. It’s so very nice to finally meet you. You can call me Tom. If this were to go as planned, your dear Pepper Potts would be at my mercy.” He started with an air of ease.  
  
“ _You have Darcy._ ” Tony stated after a brief silence. His tone not like any she’s heard from him before.  
  
“Yes. It’s quite a shame, you see. When you and your friends there attacked New York, my wife and daughter were left to die because of you monsters! More specifically you, Mr. Stark.” He sneered.  
  
“ _Now, wait just a minute-_ ”  
  
“No! You don’t get to have your perfect fucking life after all that damage while everyone else is left to suffer the consequences!” Darcy couldn’t see Tom’s face, but by the tone in his voice she knew he was pissed. Much more than she had seen him in the short time of being here. Clearly seeing and talking to Tony did not help to keep what little sanity the man had. “My plan was to take your girlfriend and make you suffer the same pain and loss that I had to suffer. Things got a little… _mixed up_ however, and now I’m stuck here wondering how much you’re willing to pay to keep your sweet little assistant alive.”   
  
With that, Tom moved out of the way and her gaze fell upon the screen to see not only Tony, but Thor, Clint, and Steve as well. Tears of relief flooded through her at the sight of Clint, knowing he was still alive and well enough to be walking around.  
  
“ _Darcy._ ” She watched as Steve walked closer to the camera breathing out her name in a way she wasn’t even sure if he actually said it. “ _What the hell have you done to her?_ ” He shouted as Tony placed a hand on his chest sending him a look. She looked behind him towards Clint. The man knew how to hide his emotions- him and Nat were frighteningly good at keeping a neutral expressions, but she still managed to see the guilt in his eyes as he stared at her through the screen.   
  
Darcy tried letting him know she didn’t blame him, but there was only so much you can convey through tear-filled eyes and no words.  
  
“ _You want money, Tom? Let her go and we’ll see what we can do, yeah?_ ” Tony grounded out. Darcy hadn’t noticed before, but every so often Tony would glace off to his side.   
  
“Yeah, money sounds nice.” Tom said as he made his way over to her side and she tensed at his presence. “I also want this one to hold you all responsible for what I’m going to put her through. I want you to know everything she’s going to experience is your doing.”   
  
With that, he took out his knife and plunged it into her left thigh and twisted it just enough to send white hot pain scorching through her entire body. Darcy screamed through the gag, the muffled cry tearing through the room and she tried in a miserable attempt to stop his actions. Being bound to a chair did not help her case.  
  
“ _Enough! Leave her alone!_ ” Thor roared through the speakers. Tom laughed and pulled the knife out with carelessness and wiped the blood on the blade off on her pants. The pain made her want to vomit and she almost wished it was enough to make her pass out. Instead the sharp pain only became more incessant.  
  
“You want ever to see Darcy Lewis again, I want fifty-million-dollars by tomorrow.”  
  
“ _You’re a damn lunatic. Let her go!_ ” Darcy lifted her head expecting to see one pissed of Steve Rogers, but the fear and worry she could make out had her taken aback.   
  
She braced herself as Tom leaned towards her once more, expecting another stab of his knife. She almost wished he had as he dug his finger in her wound. She clenched her teeth trying to keep from screaming again but she couldn’t help the pain filled sound that came from her as he tore the wound wider.   
  
“Not another word!” Tom yelled, stopping his torture on her leg. “Fifty-million. Tomorrow, or she’s dead by sunset.”   
  
She heard one of them start to say something but they were cut off as Tom walked over and cut the video. “Let’s see if they actually even care about you.” He said as he untied the cloth from Darcy’s mouth. She glared at him, gaining just enough stupid-courage before spitting in his face.  
  
He reared back, wiping the cloth against his face before pulling his hand back and slamming it against her face. The force was enough to send the chair tilting sideways as she fell hard to the floor, her injured leg slamming against the concrete floor. She cried out clenching her fists as Tom and the others walked out.  
  
“You bastard! Let me go!” She screamed at this retreating back.  
  
“Let me go!” She screamed again choking back a sob as the door slammed shut.  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of this is the Avengers point of view before, during, and after the call. I felt it was kind of needed before I could get more into it. For reasons you'll see at the end as well. I won't be doing the whole back-and-forth between pov's a lot so if that's not your thing then don't worry! (though it might happen a few other times) But for the most part it'll be about Darcy's experience.  
> Also sorry for taking so long on this update! I wasn't too confident in my ability to write an alternate pov of what happened in the last chapter so I stalled.... eep! Sorry haha Hopefully it didn't turn out too horribly. Also thank you all so much for your comments, and kudos, and everything else. Much appreciated!

 

“Who are they? Where did they take Lady Darcy?”  
  
“For the last time, Thor, I don’t know who they are. If I did, they’d already be dead.” Clint grounded out through clenched teeth. He understood Thor’s concern and where he was coming from. If he was in his shoes he’d be acting the same way, but he wasn’t. He had been there and he hadn’t been able to stop whoever they were from taking Darcy.  
  
He moved sluggishly down the hallway with the rest of the team towards one of the conference rooms Tony had within the living quarter floors. “Damn it! What the hell is wrong with me?” He said aloud as he stumbled over his own feet. Natasha came up next to him to help him but he shook his head.  
  
“You were injected with a sedative. One much stronger than your average sedative. Your body is used to those, but since this one is stronger, you’re still feeling the effects. It should wear off soon.” Bruce explained as they reached the conference room.  
  
“It should wear off _now_.” Clint dropped down in one of the chairs besides Tony who was already setting up his computer systems at the head of the table.  
  
“Well, you _were_ hooked up to an IV to flush it out of your system there, Robin Hood. Until you pulled it out and refused to let Banner there put it back in.” Tony said from beside him.  
  
“Excuse me if I want to get Darcy back instead of wasting time flushing a damn sedative out.” He shot back.  
  
“Guys, enough.” Natasha said from behind them, “Clint, anything more you can tell us about these guys? You sure they didn’t seem familiar to you?” She asked.  
  
“Well besides the fact that they had masks on…” He rolled his eyes, “No, nothing about them seemed familiar. They were driving a standard black van with no plates. I‘ve told you everything I know already.”  
  
“Stark, what are we to do to inquire of the whereabouts of Lady Darcy?” Thor said pacing back and forth looking about ready to fling Mjolnir into everything in sight. Tony held up a hand gesturing for them to wait.  
  
“Jarvis, pull up any surveillance footage from when Barton and Lewis were attacked.” Tony hit a few buttons on his computer to bring up a larger screen on the opposite wall.  
  
“ _Of course, sir._ ” The AI responded and immediately the large screen lit up. In one large box was an image of the street in which Darcy and Clint were attacked. To the right of that were three small boxes displaying the same scene but in different angles. One was from a bit more of a distance away coming from the camera in the traffic light at the end of the street. The other two were from security cameras belonging to a convenient shop and a take-out Chinese restaurant. Both were set up on opposite sides of the street to get a full visual on either location.  
  
As Clint and Darcy appeared on the video feeds, Clint held his breath clenching his fists even though he knew exactly what he was going to see on the screen. Though as opposed to just seeing it happen, he was reliving it in his head. As he had been over and over again since gaining consciousness.  
  
The team watched the scene play out in front of them all taking it in as they could. Clint looked at the screen, seeing what was happening but not as everyone else did. He could still smell the tires burning. Darcy yelling his name as she was shoved into the van still echoed in his head. From beside him, Tony sat still with a furrowed brow assessing everything he could about the men in the video. Thor looked like he wanted to throw Mjolnir through the screen. While Natasha was expressionless, she was observing their fighting tactics. Bruce was not watching so much the fighting as he was the area and any details on the truck he could. And Steve stood back against the door, his concern for Darcy as she was manhandled was overpowered by the rage of the fact that she _was manhandled into a van_. Taken against her will while Clint was teamed up on.  
  
“Have you wondered why you couldn’t take them out yourself?” Tony asked calmly but Clint was automatically defensive of his words.  
  
“Stark.” Natasha warned before Clint could say anything.  
  
“No, I’m serious. Are we watching the same thing here? It’s like they’re anticipating his moves before he makes them.” Tony rewound the video back to when Clint started fighting off the masked men. Nat gave him a questioning look before turning back to the screen to watch the replay. The whole team now studying the movements of each man. When it was clear that they had in fact known Clint’s moves, Clint gaped.  
  
“How could they possibly know how I fight? Who the hell are these guys?” He wondered aloud as Tony paused the video.  
   
“Could this mean you have encountered them before?” Thor questioned.  
  
“I don’t- I mean, it’s not impossible, but I would have picked up on that. Nothing about them or the way they moved was familiar.” He replied.  
  
“Keep it going. Let’s see if anything else stands out.” Steve said gesturing to the paused video.  
  
When it started again, Steve clenched his fist almost as hard as he clenched his jaw as he watched one of them pull out a syringe and drive it into Clint’s neck right before the mans mouth opened in what he assumed was a scream- the video feed not having audio. Steve straightened up and focused more on the guy’s now awkwardly bent arm.  
  
“You broke his arm.” Clint tensed, glancing at Steve briefly before looking away.  
  
“I couldn’t do much else, Cap.” Clint replied with a glare.  
  
“No, that’s good. That’s not something he can hide. Maybe it’ll make finding them a little easier.” He hoped.  
  
“Wait,” Bruce said walking up closer to the screen before pointing to one of the small camera views, “Make this bigger and play it back from a few seconds ago.” Tony changed the main camera view and clicked a few keys before the video started once more. “There! Zoom in on the windshield. That’s a registration sticker.”  
  
“Banner, look at you! You’re almost a genius.” Tony said as he enhanced the image as best he could to read the numbers on the sticker. “Well, I can’t get all of it with the angle but it should be enough to track down. Then we can-”  
  
“ _Sir, there is an incoming call for you._ ” Jarvis interrupted.  
  
“Ignore it. I don’t have time to deal with business calls right now, J.”  
  
“ _It’s a video call, Sir. This is their second attempt and the number is blocked. Do you still wish for me to ignore it?_ ”  
  
“Blocked number? Stark, it could be the guys who took Darcy.” Bruce said and Tony and Clint quickly rose from their chairs as the others were on full alert.  
  
“Right. Here,” He shoved the laptop at Bruce and gestured to an area of the room that would not be visible during the video call, “As soon as they’re connected, start tracking.” Bruce nodded, taking the laptop and heading towards the corner of the room behind the screen. Nat followed him to help, grabbing a tablet off one of the side desks along the wall.  
  
“Connect me, Jarvis.” Tony said as they all prepared for the incoming call. The others stood attentive, waiting for whatever they would be greeted with from the other line with bated breaths. They hadn’t needed to wait for long as the then paused street videos were replaced with a new image.  
  
“Who the hell are you?” Tony asked taken aback at the man in a black ski mask. They knew there was a possibility it could be the guys they were now on the hunt for but for some reason he hadn’t been expecting the ‘disguise’.  
  
 _“Tony Stark. It’s so very nice to finally meet you. You can call me Tom. If this were to go as planned, your dear Pepper Potts would be at my mercy_.” Tony seethed at his words- that their plan was to take Pepper. He was never happier that she was currently on the other side of the country at that moment. Unfortunately, that left Darcy in their path as well.  
  
While he took pride in his ability to maintain a poker face he hoped the others could as well. He could practically hear their jaws about to break under pressure. Risking a quick glance to Banner and Romanoff, he saw that they were already working on tracking whoever this scumbag, Tom, was.  
  
“You have Darcy.” He stated but couldn’t keep the fire from his words. The hatred for this man who he hadn’t even been talking to for more than two minutes was raging within him.  
  
“ _Yes. It’s quite a shame, you see. When you and your friends there attacked New York, my wife and daughter were_ left to die _because of you monsters! More specifically you, Mr. Stark._ ”  
  
“Now, wait just a minute-” He started, finger pointlessly raised ready to tell him off, when he was interrupted.  
  
“ _No! You don’t get to have your perfect fucking life after all that damage while everyone else is left to suffer the consequences! My plan was to take your girlfriend and make you suffer the same pain and loss that I had to suffer. Things got a little…_ mixed up _however, and now I’m stuck here wondering how much you’re willing to pay to keep your_ sweet _little assistant alive._ ”  
  
At his earlier words, Natasha was already searching through databases of men named Tom who lost a wife and daughter during the attack. When she couldn’t find anything with his name, albeit a first name, she realized quickly it was safe to assume he had given a fake.  Bruce signaled for Tony to keep the man on the line, needing more time to trace the signal. He hadn’t needed to as the man moved to the side and off-screen.  
  
What they saw on the screen caused the four men to go rigid. The slight twitch of both Bruce and Nat’s hands were the only indication that they were playing the video on either device as well.  
  
Clint hadn’t noticed anything but Darcy in that moment. The oxygen in his lungs left him in a huff of breath. A weight weighing down on his chest as the guilt hit him ten-fold. He watched as tears filled her eyes and it was then that he realized that she had probably assumed he was in a much worse condition. Or dead, as he had thought of her in passing thoughts earlier before pushing that from his mind in disgust.  
  
Clint was brought out of his daze as Steve nearly pushed passed him towards the front of the room.  
  
“What the hell have you done to her?” He shouted, and though Tom was back on the screen, his eyes never lost sight of Darcy. Darcy, the girl who was laughing and nearly skipping through the tower just hours before was now the complete opposite. Not only had this bastard gagged her, but her right eye was swollen nearly shut, accompanied by a nasty bruise. Her arms littered in tiny bruises as well and both her wrists and face had various scrapes. In retrospect there weren’t a lot, but against Darcy’s pale skin, they stood out furiously. He clenched his fist as Tony placed a hand on his chest pushing him back slightly. Punching his way through the screen wouldn’t help anyone.  
  
“You want money, Tom? Let her go and we’ll see what we can do, yeah?” Tony said glaring at Tom as he silently urged Bruce to pick up a trace. The frustration on the scientists face did not do well to put him at ease.  
  
“ _Yeah, money sounds nice._ ” They watch as Tom made his way next to Darcy. If Thor could have, he would have driven Mjolnir through this guys head as Darcy tensed. “ _I also want this one to hold you all responsible for what I’m going to put her through. I want you to know everything she’s going to experience is your doing._ ”  
  
They all felt helpless. Helpless and filled with rage and guilt as his knife plunged into Darcy’s thigh. Her screams piercing through them enough to make Tony want to throw up. As he twisted the knife her screams got louder. More agonizing.  
  
“Stop! Stop it!” Steve yelled over her screams. His vision blurring as his own tears started to make themselves present. He pushed them back quickly as Thor bellowed.  
  
“Enough! Leave her alone!”  
  
Darcy had stopped screaming, instead making pained moans that were enough to almost cause the Hulk to make an appearance.  
  
“ _You ever want to see Darcy Lewis again, I want fifty-million-dollars by tomorrow._ ”  
  
“You’re a damn lunatic. Let her go!” Steve grounded out through clenched teeth. Darcy lifted her head for the first time since Tom stabbed her in the leg and it broke Steve’s heart. Though not as much as the muffled screams the ripped through her once more as he dug his finger into her wound.  
  
“ _Not another word!_ ” He yelled as he stepped away from Darcy, “ _Fifty million. Tomorrow, or she’s dead by sunset._ ”  
  
“Where do-” Tony started but stopped as the video cut off. “Damn it! Banner!” He yelled turning his attention toward the man in question. “You better have some good fucking news.” Bruce stood up coming back over to the main table and setting the laptop down as Steve ran a shaky hand through his hair clenching his eyes shut. When he opened them, Natasha was in front of him. She reached out to give his arm a slight squeeze before walking over towards Clint, tablet still in hand.  
  
“These guys aren’t messing around. They know what they’re doing, _but_ -” He stressed as he saw Tony about to argue, “Lucky for us, your systems are better. They managed to bounce back and forth between a slew of IP addresses and their firewalls are on point. But they’re not perfect. I managed to trace it back to a warehouse about twenty miles north of here.”  
  
“The plan was to take Pepper. They must have had this all planned out for a while. How do we know you tracing them isn’t a trap of some sort?” Clint questioned.  
  
“Well, yeah, but they also thought Darcy was Pepper. Clearly these guys are lacking in common sense.” Tony replied with a wave of his hand.  
  
“Have you found anything in your searches, Lady Natasha?” She glanced at Thor before looking at the others and sighing in frustration. “I’ve searched with and without the name, looking for anyone who lost a wife and child. Nothing has come up.”  
  
“Banner, where is the warehouse located?” Steve asked the man who then told him the address. Steve nodded before turning and heading towards the door to the room.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Tony asked him.  
  
“Where do you _think_ I’m going, Stark?” Steve gave him an incredulous look. “We need to get Darcy!” He made to leave the room but Stark grabbed onto his shoulder, pulling him back.  
  
“Whoa there, Mr. Star-Spangled man with a plan! As much as I’d love for us to all go storm in there and raise hell, this could very well just be a trap. We need to think this through before we make any moves.”  
  
“Stark’s right, Cap.” Steve raised a brow at Clint, “Look I want to get these guys just as much as you, if not more. But we can’t risk anything happening and then not being able to help Darcy. This guy has it out for us- Stark especially. He’s using Darcy as bait which means we need to think this through and figure out exactly what we’re dealing with.”  
  
“We know what we’re dealing with! Have you not seen the state she was in? How much longer before it gets any worse?!” Thor slammed a fist down on the table. Tony steadied the now wobbling table before fixing a stern glare in Thor’s direction. “You saw something earlier,” Thor turned to Bruce, “About a- what did you call it? A registration? Could we not use that to help find these monsters?”  
  
“Oh god, I completely forgot about that.” Bruce said exasperatedly. “Tony bring up that video again.” Tony did so, bringing it back and zooming in once more on the windshield of the van. Bruce’s fingers began to fly over the keys searching the registration number. It wasn’t long before a match was found and they all found themselves gathered around the small computer.  
  
“Justin Jones? What the hell kind of name is that?” Tony scoffed as Bruce pulled up the DMV records. Justin Jones was five-foot and ten-inches tall, cropped blonde hair and had vibrant green eyes.  
  
“That’s the guy.” Clint said causing everyone to turn and look at him.  
  
“No, that can’t be. The guy in the video seemed taller. Plus his mouth was different.” Nat said as she examined the photo again.  
  
“No. Not him. That’s the guy whose arm I broke.”  
  
“How can you be sure? They were wearing masks.” Steve asked not wanting to undermine Clint’s words but needing confirmation as well.  
  
“His eyes. I looked him in the eyes as I broke his arm. He had green eyes, and not many people have green eyes like that.”  
  
“Like the guy in the video.” Thor supplied.  
  
“Wait, what?” Tony turned questioning eyes towards him.  
  
“The man who was talking. On the screen. He had green eyes, just like him.” He replied, pointing to the image of Justin Jones.  
  
“Well, shit. Looks like he’s got his brother working with him.” Tony crossed his arms. The others looked at him strangely, “Well they’re certainly not father and son.” Tony rolled his eyes.  
  
At the theory, Bruce had continued his search looking through anything he could find on the owner of the van. It wasn’t hard to find out that he had an older brother. An older brother who was now a widower.  
  
“William Jones.” Bruce read off the name, “This must be him.”  
  
“Why wasn’t I able to find that earlier?” Nat questioned.  
  
“Maybe you’re just getting rusty in your old age.” She glared at Tony.  
  
“It’s because he didn’t lose his family due to the attack on New York.” Steve said as he read off the screen. “They were involved in a car accident several days later.”  
  
“Then what does this guy have against me?” Tony asked. Natasha lightly nudged Bruce out of the way before taking a seat and moving the laptop in front of her. She began going through databases and files at too quick of a speed for any of the others to figure out what she was searching for, or even finding. “Romanoff.” Tony tried getting her attention, but she kept searching. They watched her features go from determined, to confusion, until realization struck her.  
  
“Emily Jones and their daughter Olivia died in a car accident four days after the first accident, during the attack, which put William Jones in a coma.”  
  
“That still doesn’t explain what he’s got against Tony… or any of us for that matter.” Steve argued.  
  
“Justin Jones was driving them from the hospital that Williams was admitted to. It doesn’t specify how the accident went down, but seems to be that Justin pinned the blame on someone else to avoid the guilt and the wrath of his brother.” Nat continued.  
  
“That doesn’t make sense.” Steve said. “Couldn’t William just have looked that up? Surely it would have been stated during their funeral?”  
  
“He was in a coma for about a month and a half. The funeral for his wife and daughter had taken place during that time. Justin could have easily lied and come up with something else.”  
  
“So he’s just going to believe that? Sounds like a load of shit to me.” Tony said appalled.  
  
“Not necessarily.” They turned to Bruce waiting for him to continue. “He had lost his wife and daughter. That’s a pretty tragic loss and this man is his brother who I’m sure he had no reason not to believe. They could have easily died at the same time he went into the coma and he wouldn’t know. Given the trauma and grief of the situation, it’d be easy to believe almost anything. He has no other reason to suspect his brother of lying and by having someone to hold responsible for their loss, that rage could easily make him delusional and not see any need to look into their death. He could have been too busy trying to put this whole thing together than to confirm what had happened.”  
  
“So that’s how we get them.” Tony said snapping his fingers.  
  
“What are you talking about, Stark?” Clint asked.  
  
“His brother is working with him on this. We turn him against him- reveal the truth of what happened. He’ll be too busy trying to wrap his head around it. Taking him down from that point will be a piece of cake.”  
  
“You would hope. He’s clearly not all there. Neither are the guys who’re working with him, since they’re working with him. Who knows what they’re capable of. What _he‘s_ capable of. What we saw him do to Darcy could just be the tip of the iceberg.” Nat said.  
  
“Then we need to get a move on, on getting Darcy back.” Tony responded, “Sooner rather than later, because I‘m itching to get my hands on this bastard.”


	4. Chapter 4

Darcy hadn’t realized she had even passed out until she was being forcefully brought back to consciousness. Cold water engulfed her, covering her face and soaking her hair and most of her shirt. She coughed, sputtering out the water that slipped into her mouth. She gasped as she was quickly pulled from her position on the floor, still tied to the chair, into an upright position. She blinked a few times, trying to regain focus, glaring when she noticed someone she hadn’t yet seen before in front of her.  
  
“Who the hell are you?” She forced out, her voice still strained from all her coughing. Not to mention she was also feeling lightheaded and nauseous from the knife wound in her thigh. She looked down at her leg and saw the wound was wrapped in gauze. “Did you do this?” She asked.  
  
She followed his gaze when he gestured behind her. She turned to see the younger guy from before, Rick, standing against the far wall. She turned back around to the new guy. It was then she noticed he had the same green eyes as Tom. Though whereas Tom was taller with dark hair, this man was slightly shorter with blonde hair. “Are you that guys brother or something?” She asked.  
  
He didn’t say anything, instead, he started walking towards her. She tensed, uselessly trying to push herself as far away as she could, though it did nothing.  
  
“Relax. I’m going to untie you.” He stated.  
  
“Untie me? Why are you going to untie me? What are you going to do to me?” She asked nervously. It was then that she noticed that while he was in a long sleeved shirt, the part of his hand the was visible was covered in a white cast.  
  
Clint breaking one of her captors arms right after being injected with something flashed in her mind and she gasped horrified. “You’re one of the assholes that attacked Clint! Get away from me!” She cried out glaring at the man.  
  
“Ms. Lewis, my name is Justin. I’m not going to hurt you. Not as long as you cooperate. Now, I can untie you or you can stay like that. Which is it going to be?” He questioned. She looked away, the chance at being untied was tempting no matter how wary she was of their plans. He took her silence as confirmation and started to remove the rope from her wrists. Rick had moved to her side, incase she tried anything, she assumed.  
  
As soon as she was free, she jumped up from the chair and hastily pressed herself against the opposite wall. Eyes widened as she anticipated whatever they were going to do to her next. She jumped as the door opened.  
  
“Boss wants to see you.” The guy told Justin who rolled his eyes in response.  
  
“Watch her.” He told Rick before turning and following the other man out of the room. Darcy sank down to the floor, not being able to stand any longer due to the pain in her leg. She brought her hands to her wrists to ease the tension and rawness from them, watching Rick with wary eyes. She wasn’t sure what he was capable of. Only that he was one of the ones to tie her down and that he bandaged her leg.  
  
She sat against the cold floor, her back to the wall, shivering from the cold concrete against her damp shirt. Her face and arms, still slightly wet, managed to attract any ounce of coolness in the room. She went to bring her knees closer to her chest to try and ease off the cold but winced as her leg protested. Settling on keeping her left leg outstretched, she hugged her right knee to chest. Wrapping her arms around it, she closed her eyes trying to calm her nerves. Her current situation, however, did not make it easy for ‘calm’ to be any part of her emotions.  
  
What she wouldn’t give to be back at the tower fetching Tony anything he asked for no matter how impolite he asked. She would take his and Clint’s teasing non-stop over being kept in this hell hole of a situation any day. She wished for Thor’s hammer so she could bust her way out of here and be free. Then again she wouldn’t even be able to lift Mjolnir so that may not be the best idea. She’d need something she could at least budge, like Steve’s shield. Her heart dropped in her chest at the thought.  
  
A flash of Steve smiling at her this morning flashed in her head as her eyes stung, reminding her she might never even see him or any of the others again. There was no reason to believe Tom would let her live to see the end of this. He lost his family, after all, so what would keep him from letting her live. As long as he got his money he was set. Or if he managed to destroy the Avengers. Tears streamed down her eyes at the thought. She had no doubt the Avengers could take him and his minions, but there was still a possibility. And as much as she wanted out of being held captive, she suddenly hoped that they stayed away. That Tony, and Steve, Clint, and Thor and Natasha, and Bruce just forgot about her and didn’t try to give this man what he wanted. She didn’t know how she’d manage if any of them got hurt. If they got hurt because of her. She had to find a way out of here.  
  
She wiped the tears from her face as she racked her brain for a plan. She knew there had to be at least six of them she had to deal with, unless she could miraculously get by without any of them noticing. There were four guys who had attacked her and Clint on the street and one driving the car. She assumed Tom hadn’t been there at all since he yelled at them for taking her instead of Pepper. Then again, there could be a whole slew of people out there and she wouldn’t know it.  
  
Darcy sighed leaning her head back against the wall. None of this was ever going to work. She wasn’t an Avenger, or even a SHIELD agent. She was just a lab assistant whose only method of fighting was to tase people.  
  
With that thought, her eyes widened. How could she have forgotten? There was a taser in her boot this whole time. Not only would it work to take down who she needed, granted she could get close enough, but it would alert JARVIS of her location. Glancing towards Rick she saw he was too preoccupied having pulled out his cell phone and was too entranced in that to have noticed her epiphany. An idea popped into her head and later she’d realize how stupid it was, but through fear and desperation she decided to try it anyway.  
  
“So,” She started, “you look a little young to be in the kidnapping business.” It was a weak attempt to grab his attention, but she couldn’t help but be curious as well.  
  
“Be quiet.” Was all he said and she inwardly cursed before trying a different approach.  
  
“Okay, okay. Do you think you could help me up though? My leg…” She gestured to her bandaged thigh, hoping since he bandaged it he might have a little compassion. Rick sighed, glancing over at the open door to the vacant hallway before pocketing his phone and walking over towards Darcy.  
  
‘ _Victory_.’ She thought to herself. Right before he pushed himself off the opposite wall she subtly slid her hand in her right boot, grasping the taser in her hand and positioning her finger over the button. She sat with a baited breath hoping he wouldn’t notice. Hoping this would work.  
  
When he reached a hand out she grabbed it with her left pulling herself up and keeping her weight on her right leg as she pulled the taser out, hiding it out of sight. Once she was fully standing she took a deep breath before thrusting the taser up to his neck and hitting the button. Her heart felt like it stopped as she watched him jerk before hitting the floor with a thud. She only briefly felt bad for the guy, now passed out on the floor, before she took off towards the door. Not used to the limitations of her leg, she stumbled, dropping the taser to the floor as it skittered out of her way.  She made to go for it, but when she heard the sounds of approaching voices she knew she had no time. With a curse, she pushed herself forward putting as much weight on her leg as she could in order to move quicker.  
  
When she reached the hallway she was relieved to find no one on watch, but now she had to figure out which way to go. She was barely conscious right before they had brought her into the room so nothing looked familiar. She had no idea which way was out. The sound of a door closing down one of the hallways had her taking off down the opposite way. She ran, clenching her jaw as her leg jarred in pain with each movement. She reached an open stairway and as she looked around she noticed the giant open room. The random metal shelves and giant machinery covered in dust. She only just realized she was in a warehouse before the urge to get out of there hit her again.  
  
She limped down the stairs, only getting halfway down before she heard angry shouts echoing through the halls she had just came from. Knowing she was running out of time, and didn’t even know where the exit was, she forced her way down the stairs, biting back the pain through each step. She had just reached the bottom when a voice rang out.  
  
“Oh Darcy,” The voice she recognized as Tom’s sang out, “You can’t hide from us. Your best bet is to just come out before we find you.” She darted behind a shelving unit shoved away in the corner behind the stairs that was filled with hunks of metal and plastic that she didn’t care to examine. She held her breath, trying to make herself as small as possible as footsteps ran down the stairs.  
  
Through the small open spaces on the shelves she could make out Tom along with Justin and another guy she didn’t recognize scanning the room.  
  
“Not like she could have gotten far.” The man she hadn’t seen before said as he continued looking around.  
  
“Yeah, well keep looking. The door out of here is locked so she’s still in here.” He said before raising his voice, “You hear that Lewis? You’re trapped in here!” She knew it wasn’t likely that she’d be able to get out, but she still had hoped. Having it confirmed had her eyes welling with tears as she brought her hand to her mouth to stave off the sobs that were threatening to break through.  
  
She didn’t know why she had even attempted to run. Maybe if she was more like Nat, she wouldn’t be in this mess. Or she’d at least know how to get out without a problem. But she wasn’t like that. She was just an assistant with a poli-sci degree. She didn’t know how to fight or how to make calculated decisions to get herself out of trouble. Hence the taser. If she ever made it out of here she was going to make sure she learned how to handle situations like this. _If_. She shuddered. She didn’t want to even think of the possibility of not getting out alive.  
  
She jumped when she heard a clang of metal hitting the floor. Nausea and dread filled her immediately when she looked down to see a bucket had fallen off the shelf and clattered to the floor in front of her. Darcy had no time to even find a different place to hide as someone came up behind her, dragging her out into the open.  
  
“No!” She cried out, “No, please! Just let me go!” She screamed and kicked. Tears flooded her vision as fear constricted itself around every part of her until she felt like she couldn’t breathe. “ _Please_.” She reiterated with a desperate plea. He ignored her, continuing to drag her backwards until they stopped, he let her go roughly and she fell to the floor, her arms coming out to brace her fall. She looked up when a pair of shoes entered her vision. Tom was crouched in front of her, fixing her with a menacing look. She jumped back into a sitting position, as far away from him as she could get without actually getting anywhere. Her injured leg was tucked under her, the position stretching the hole in her thigh but she was too fear-stricken to make any more movements with the three men surrounding her as they were.  
  
“I don’t think you understand your current situation here, Darcy.” He brought his hand forward and she flinched, jerking back when he went to brush the hair from her face.  
  
“Don’t touch me.” She said, a lot less confident than she would have hoped. He laughed in response before rising to stand. He nodded to the guy who had dragged her out and then a hand was wrapped around her arm, roughly pulling her from the floor. She spared a glance at Justin, surprised to see him looking slightly uncomfortable. She stared at him, though she wasn’t sure why. Maybe to elicit a response from him, to get a better read on him. Part of her hoping if she knew who the weak ones were it would help her if she found another way out. She got her answer when he looked away.  
“I’m going to go check on Rick.” Justin said before turning to make his way back up the stairs.  
  
“Let’s go.” Tom said to the man with the vice grip on her arm. They followed Tom through the room and around another hallway. When they reached a door, Tom entered and Darcy was forced into a chair which sat across from a desk as the guy who had been man-handling her closed the door, shutting the three of them inside. She gasped as she looked to the wall behind the desk. Pictures of not only Tony, but Clint, Nat, Steve, Thor and Bruce as well were hung on the wall, Post-It notes surrounding each of their pictures with a mass of information she couldn’t even make out. Tom took notice and sat down behind the desk.  
  
“Like it? Took me some time to put it together. I had to make sure I knew how they reacted to things, you know? How they fought and all that good stuff.” He said casually as if it wasn’t the creepiest thing in the world.  
  
“Clint…” The fact that Clint hadn’t been able to take them all out as he usually would have flashed in her mind.  
  
“Ah, yes. Mr Barton. He was a little tricky, but luckily my men know how to do their homework. Surveillance on him wasn’t easy, I’ve got to say. But once we had it… His skills are quite impressive. His fighting tactics were very interesting to learn.” Her eyes widened at his revelation and she then realized just how much planning could have gone into this. Having well over a year to study each member of the Avengers- to put a plan together such as this one. She would have been impressed had it not included a hostage, especially herself. That, and the fact that he clearly couldn’t even capture the right woman. She wondered if he was so intent on trying to kill Tony and/or the others, that he overlooked just how good they were at what they do. Thor was a _god_ , for crying out loud.  
  
She glanced back at the pictures on the wall subconsciously trying to burn the images into her head, for it may be the last image of them she would ever see again. She wasn’t sure what the overall plan was, but either way, she couldn’t help but fear the worst.  
  
“Listen, I know what you’re probably thinking, but I’m not a bad guy.” She scoffed.  
  
“Could have fooled me.” She bit her tongue as soon as the words left her mouth. Bracing herself for the man to snap. Instead, he laughed and she was taken aback.  
  
“I don’t expect you-” He stopped talking as the door swung open. They both turned sharply towards the door at the movement to see Justin looking nervous. Behind him stood the first man who had tied her to the chair in the other room, holding up Rick who looked worse for wear. She didn’t feel bad for him, however. Fuck him, and everyone else.  
  
“There was a tracking device in the taser.” Justin said hastily holding up a small chip in between his fingers that was flashing red. In his other hand he held pieces of the now disassembled taser. Darcy bit her lip, averting her eyes as she could feel Tom’s eyes on her.  
  
“Why,” He said, rising from his chair and walking towards Justin, “have you not destroyed it yet?” He ripped the device from the others hand and dropping it to the floor before crushing it under his foot. Without waiting for an answer from Justin, he turned towards Darcy, grabbing the chair she sat at and turning it roughly to face him. She flinched, wishing desperately to not be in such a close vicinity of the man. “You knew there was a GPS signal in there, didn’t you? How long until they’re notified?” He said lowly, glaring into her eyes even as she tried to avoid any eye contact.  
  
“Answer me!” He shouted grabbing a handful of her hair and practically threw her to the floor.  
  
“I don’t know.” She answered fearfully in a heap at his feet. Clearly that wasn’t an acceptable answer because before she could even blink, he drove his foot into her ribs quick and hard. She cried out, clutching her arms around herself in a weak attempt to ease the blinding pain shooting through her.  
  
“It’s your taser. It’s got Stark’s label on it, and you’re going to try and tell me you don’t know anything about it?” He seethed rearing his foot back once more and connecting it to the same spot where she was sure her ribs were broken. Once more and his foot hit her arm and she saw white.  
  
“Wait, wait! Stop! _Please_ , I don’t-” she choked back a sob, “I knew it was in there, but not how it works. Only th-that it would go off when the taser was activated. I don’t even know how he’s notified.” She lied gasping in pain as he kicked her again. Lying certainly didn’t have the best results, but she’d be damned if she told him everything that could potentially help her in the long run. “I swear, I _don’t_ \- I’m sorry-” He stopped, reaching down to grab her in a vice grip by her arm in attempt to pull her up and she cried out.  
  
“ _Billy!_ Don’t you think that’s enough?” Justin spoke from his position still in the doorway. If the white noise wasn’t blaring through her ears, she would have questioned it when Tom dropped her arm, letting her fall back to the floor, at the name. Instead she laid there, arms wrapped around herself. She would have curled up in a ball if she could have, but the pain coursing through her was unbearable and just the thought of moving brought more tears to her already tear-filled eyes.  
  
“Looks like we’re going to have to skip a few steps in our plan.” With that he walked out of the room. Darcy wasn’t sure if the others had followed or not. The sounds of footsteps would have been lost in the sounds of her cries either way. Seconds felt like hours, and minutes felt like days as the bruising and crack in her ribs only seemed to get worse. She was no expert, she wasn’t even sure if they were in fact broken other than the sheer amount of pain she was experiencing. But she could only hope that she wasn’t going to bleed out internally.  
  
She barely had it in her to react when two pairs of hands appeared out of nowhere and pulled her up into a standing position. The only reason she was able to even stay upright was because whoever was holding her up was supporting her weight. Her head hung forward and it took whatever remaining energy she had to lift her head and see what was happening.  
  
Confusion filled her as Tom- or Billy, started to put something black and heavy around her, maneuvering her arms through openings on either sides. She jerked back trying to deter his attempts. “Wh-what are you doing?” She asked weakly, but the trepidation in her voice was evident. “ _Stop_ ,” She tried struggling out of the hold they had on her. “What _is_ this?” She asked nervously.  
  
“If you don’t calm down, you’re going to find out the hard way.” ‘Billy’ said as he started tightening the fastenings around her. She tried to focus to see what it was but when she did she stilled, wishing she hadn’t. He had placed a vest on her, tightening the straps against her battered torso, but that wasn’t the problem. More wires than she could even comprehend were woven around the front, attached to various blocks that she could only assume were explosives. She turned frightful eyes towards the man in front of her.  
  
“Don’t worry. As long as you do everything you’re told you’ll be fine.” He said as if strapping a bomb to someone was an everyday occurrence. “Now, as you can see there’s a bomb on this vest. _Ta da!_ I would suggest to not even think of removing it because there’s a trigger and it will detonate if you try and take it off. It’s also remote activated. I didn’t want to have to deal with an annoying countdown. Plus there’s just something empowering about having that kind of decision at the palm of your hands.” She wanted to vomit with how at ease he was talking about this. How calm he was with that sick look of pride in his eyes.  
  
“Why are you doing this?” She asked through clenched teeth, afraid to even make the smallest movement.  
  
“Well I’ve told you that already. Have you not been listening?” He made a gesture towards the two other guys in the room who then turned to leave the room as he leaned against the desk. “I want Stark and his happy little brigade to realize their actions have consequences. Now, whether that is making them suffer the loss of a friend, or whatever you are to them, at their own doing- or simply putting them in the ground is fine with me. Personally, I’d like nothing more than to watch Tony Stark suffer the guilt of losing someone close. Granted, you aren’t Pepper Potts, but you must mean something since you’re living in the same building as him.” She didn’t know how he knew that and the surprise must have shown on her face.  
“Don’t doubt me.” He continued and she was almost too frightened to question him on it. “As a bonus, wouldn’t it be something to be able to say you took down Captain America?” Her heart clenched at his words, but she did everything she could not to convey it. “I never got the hype about him. Should have stayed dead, don’t you think?” She couldn’t help the glare that betrayed her. His words effecting her more than she would have liked.  
  
“Do I really need to have a bomb strapped to me for this?” She questioned apprehensively.  
  
“Well, I suppose not. But I must say, it’s awfully efficient. Not only will it keep you in line, but if those damn _Avengers_ try anything, it’ll certainly make them think twice. Unless, of course, you’re a lot more expendable than I thought.” He gave her a scrutinizing glance. “Guess we’ll just have to find out.”  
  
A short rapping against the door had him standing up putting a hand against her upper back. She flinched, not only in fear and disgust of the man, but also because she didn’t know anything about bombs other than the whole _Boom_ and fire and death aspect. She didn’t know what it would take to set it off and she didn’t want to find out. He opened the door, leading her out. “It’s not quite how I wanted to meet them, but it will have to make due. I hope you’re ready to say goodbye to your friends.” He said as he led them back into the main room.  
  



End file.
